Martha Stewart is on the cover of Sports Illustrated! The 81 yr old is the coveted magazine’s oldest model gracing the cover of their 2023 issue and she looks great!
According to Yahoo she stole the title of the oldest to pose for the publication from Maye Musk, who appeared on the 2022 cover at age 74.
“Usually I’m motivated by pay. But this time I was motivated by showing people that a woman my age could still look good, feel good, be good,” Stewart said in conversation with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. “I thought that this is kind of historic and that I better look really good.”
While showing up as her best self might not seem like the biggest deal to Stewart — who previously told Yahoo Life that posing in nothing but an apron for a 2022 campaign didn’t faze her “one iota” — her inclusion in the publication certainly is momentous.
“For midlife and older women, it will be empowering to see someone in their age group represented on the magazine stands, in the grocery store, you know, somewhere that everyone’s coming to look,” Holly Thomas, clinical researcher and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, tells Yahoo Life. “It’s different than if she was appearing on the cover of Vogue in a dress. … The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue holds a special place in the American psyche with regards to beauty ideals.”
The power that the magazine yields is evident, according to Thomas, who reflected on different “milestone” moments that have challenged exclusionary ideals within the fashion and beauty industry. “It was a big deal when there was the first Black woman on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. I remember it was a big deal when they started having curvier women,” she says.
That inclusion is an indication of evolving beauty standards.
Now, with her appearance in a bathing suit at 81, Stewart will also serve as a recalibration to the assumptions that people have about women and their sexuality as they age.
“In our society, there’s a popular conception of older adults, especially women, as asexual, as not interested in sex anymore. Or that older people’s sexuality should be seen as a joke or gross or things like that,” Thomas explains. “Then there’s this tie between swimming attire and sexuality, the two just go together. Even a bathing suit where somebody’s not showing that much skin, you know, can still be ‘Oh, wow, you know, this is sexy.'”
Stewart herself hasn’t been shy when it comes to expressing her desire to have a bit of sex appeal. “I think people like looking at pretty things, and if you feel pretty and can bare it all, do it,” she shared for Yahoo Life’s Unapologetically series.
Thomas explains Stewart isn’t alone in feeling that way.
“Sex is a really important part of life for a lot of older adults. So, hopefully something like this may help sort of normalize that — that many older women still do feel sexy, want to feel sexy and are interested in presenting themselves that way,” Thomas says.
And despite the belief that women experience “dissatisfaction with their bodies” as they age, Thomas’s research proves that that isn’t necessarily true.
“There are a lot of women who, as they get older, feel more comfortable in their body, more self-assured,” she says.
“There’s also this phenomenon that their physical appearance becomes a less important component of their self perception and who they are. I can be judged on things besides just my physical appearance.
I can be judged on the intelligence I’ve gained, the wisdom I’ve gained, things I’ve done in my career, roles I’ve played as being a mother or a grandmother, these types of things.”
Embracing that evolution is top of mind for Stewart.
“My motto is, when you’re through changing, you’re through,” she told the magazine.
Thrilled to be on cover of the @SI_Swimsuit issue! I hope this cover inspires you to challenge yourself to try new things. Pick up on newsstands May 18th! #SISwimsuit #SISwim23 @ruvenafanador pic.twitter.com/DsRgLr6crK
— Martha Stewart (@MarthaStewart) May 15, 2023
and
I'm not sure what I'm more surprised over:
The fact that Martha Stewart is 81-years-old.
Or
The Fact that she's on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and is not at all out of place.
I hear a lot of people criticizing the cover for "being touched up". I… pic.twitter.com/S9M1G4P1At
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 15, 2023
and
Martha Stewart being on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition was not on my 2023 bingo card. pic.twitter.com/dZr5I4C6I1
— THEE Side-Eye Pinkie Pie (@NYPoliticalMom) May 15, 2023
and
81 years old and on the cover of Sports Illustrated—baby Martha Stewart is LIVING pic.twitter.com/QTWOyufsxQ
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) May 15, 2023
